


Just a Single Vice

by canbrooklynwrite



Category: We Are The Tigers - Allen
Genre: Alcohol, Food Network cause I can, Gen, Step-siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canbrooklynwrite/pseuds/canbrooklynwrite
Summary: Farrah has a dream and is convinced that Annleigh hates her. Is she right?
Relationships: Annleigh & Farrah (We Are The Tigers)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Just a Single Vice

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is just a little one-shot I wrote because I really wanted to explore this sister dynamic if Farrah hadn't been stabbed. I hope you like it and feel free to let me know what you think in the comments!

“Farrah put the bottle away already! I’m tired of having to drive to who-knows-where at all hours of the night just to save you. You should be better than that..”

“I’m sorry…” the younger girl says, starting to walk away. Annleigh keeps berating the younger girl, even as she continues to walk down the hallway. 

“You don’t get to be sorry. This is all your fault! I didn’t ask for a sister. Dad and I were perfectly happy before you and your mother came along. We were fine, but now you come in here and screw it all up!” She pauses before twisting the knife already in Farrah’s heart. Lowering her voice she said, “I don’t know how anyone could ever love you. You don’t deserve to be loved. You’re too broken.” Farrah stopped mid-step after that last part. It’s like Annleigh knew exactly how to break her, exactly what could hurt her the most.

Of course, Farrah couldn’t just leave it at that, she always had to have the last word. Normally she was incredibly stubborn and hated to admit she was wrong, but she also knew Annleigh was right. She  _ had  _ screwed everything up, so asking for forgiveness couldn’t make things worse, right? She turned around and went back to Annleigh’s room.

“Annleigh wait...” she said as the older girl tried to shut her door. Tears started to form in Farrah’s eyes. She was tired of arguing, tired of being alone, and tired of not being able to feel safe with her new sister and she was ready to do whatever it took to fix that. “I’m sorry, okay? I’ll--I’ll try again. Please let me try again. I just--I wanna be a good sister for you...please?” 

“I’ve given you enough chances already,” Annleigh said, slamming the door in her face.

With the slam of the door, Farrah bolted awake. She sat up in her bed, shaken by the nightmare. It had felt so real. Some of it must have been because she felt wet spots on her cheeks and her pillow.

_ Relax Farrah,  _ she thought to herself.  _ It was just a dream. Breathe. _

After a few more shaky breaths, she lay back down and closed her eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. She could hear the sounds of the ocean coming from a speaker in Annleigh’s room, but even the familiar sound couldn’t distract her from Dream-Annleigh’s voice in her head.  _ Don’t I deserve more than this _ ? Farrah knew that she did; Annleigh deserved the world in her step-sister’s eyes. Annleigh was perfect, Farrah was as far from that as possible. Annleigh volunteered at the animal shelter while Farrah couldn’t even keep a plant alive. Farrah kissed a different person at every party she went to; Annleigh had Clark and always only Clark. Annleigh had metaled in dressage so many times that she didn’t know exactly how many trophies she had earned; Farrah had never won anything in her life except drinking games and that one volleyball tournament in 8th grade, though she got kicked off of the volleyball team after 3 weeks, so it’s not much of a win. Annleigh was so much better than Farrah in every way possible, so it was obvious that she deserved much better than the broken girl that Farrah is. All of this was swirling around in Farrah’s head and keeping her from resting. She decided to get up and do something to hopefully distract herself. 

She walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Flinching at the sound of Annleigh’s yelling in her head, Farrah reached for a bottle of water instead of the bottle her parents “hid” under the sink. Her head ached and her thoughts kept racing, and she knew that just one drink would fix all of that. But the nightmare had been too real. So she took her water, sat on the couch, and turned on Food Network. It was Annleigh’s favorite, so she was forced to watch it more than she liked to. She thought it would be good background noise to keep her mind focussed on anything other than how badly she needed a drink. And maybe she liked cooking shows just a little. She pulled a throw blanket over her and settled in on the couch. After watching 2 and a half Chopped reruns, Farrah managed to drift off for a few hours of decent sleep.

* * *

  
  


Annleigh woke up around her usual time for a Saturday morning (8:00! She let herself sleep in on weekends) and found Farrah asleep on the couch with Alton Brown on the TV. This was the first time she had ever seen her sister voluntarily watch Food Network, so she just assumed she was drunk. She sighed and pulled out a bagel to pop into the toaster. Farrah stirred on the couch as Annleigh poured her glass of orange juice.

“Good morning Farrah.”

“Annleigh,” a very groggy Farrah said, momentarily surprised to see her there and not screaming at her. The memory of the nightmare was still very vivid. Annleigh took her breakfast and sat on the couch next to Farrah, setting her dishes on the coffee table in front of them. 

“Annleigh?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry…” The younger girl knew the dream hadn’t been real, but it wasn’t far from the truth. She was screwed up and Annleigh had to take care of her. Farrah knew she had never asked for that; she knew that she was a burden to her and she needed to apologize.

Annleigh on the other hand was concerned. Farrah had never apologized for anything that she could remember. Except for that one time she stole her phone and texted Clark that she wanted to break up. Annleigh was doing damage control for 3 days after that. Once Farrah realized that she had been crying almost nonstop for those 3 days, she apologized and offered to talk to Clark. So she knew that if Farrah was apologizing, this had to be bad.

“What did you do this time?”

“I--I should be better. I’m not a good sister. I get drunk because I can’t help myself and you have to take care of me but you shouldn’t. I should be okay but I’m not. I don’t know how to be. I don’t know how to stop. I want to be your sister. I want you to be able to trust me-- _ I  _ want to be able to trust me and I can’t. I want to be a good sister for you Annleigh and I’m not and I’m sorry.”

Farrah said all of this staring straight down at her lap, avoiding her sister’s concerned gaze. She pulled the blanket tighter around her and prepared for Annleigh to yell at her as she had in the dream. Instead, she scooted over next to Farrah on the couch and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. 

“You’re right, you aren’t okay. But that’s okay Farrah. Our parents got married, so I’m stuck with you for at least a little while. So I’m gonna take care of you. That’s what sisters are for, isn’t it?”

Farrah visibly relaxed after Annleigh’s response. She had assumed that Annleigh didn’t want her. No one ever wanted her. Now that someone did, she wasn’t about to screw it up. She pulled out of the hug to face her sister and look her in the eye. 

“I want to try and get sober.”

“What?”

“I wan to try to get sober. And I’m gonna need help. Your help. I can’t be the girl who has been drunk since she was 13 all of my life Annleigh. I want to live a real life.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it? It’s going to be really hard.”

Farrah nodded. “I’m sure. If I can have your help at least…”

“Always Farrah. You’re stuck with me, remember? Let’s do whatever it takes to bring back the real Farrah all the time. I want everyone to see this Farrah, the one who cares about people and loves a little too hard. The Farrah that I miss getting to see. The Farrah everyone deserves to know.”

Farrah nodded again, unable to respond through the surprised tears that began to fall. Annleigh wiped a tear from her cheek and lifted Farrah’s eyes to meet her own. 

“We can do this.  _ You  _ can do this.”

Farrah wrapped her arms around her older sister and leaned into the most healing hug she had ever experienced. She truly relaxed for the first time in too long. She finally someone by her side who believed in her, even though she didn’t entirely believe in herself. Both girls finally had a real sister and they couldn’t have felt luckier.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


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